As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. An option is an Information Handling System (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes.
Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use, such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, global communications, etc.
In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information; and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and/or networking systems.
When designing an IHS with high technology density—that is, an IHS having a large number of CPU transistors, resistors, ICs, expander cards, hard drives, and/or other components deployed inside its chassis—it becomes necessary to manage the amount heat generated by each component to prevent damage or failure. A common solution is to increase the amount of air flowing through the chassis to reduce the temperature of those components, which often is accomplished using higher-speed (rpm) fans. However, the inventors hereof have recognized several disadvantages with these techniques, including, but note limited to: higher fan power consumption, larger fan-induced vibration, and higher acoustical output.
As an example, consider that spinning disk manufacturers generally look for ways to increase the storage capacity of their hard drives (e.g., measured in Gigabytes, Terabytes, etc.). As the inventors hereof have discovered, the increase in storage capacity has also led to an increase in sensitivity to acoustic excitation. In some cases, a hard drive's throughput may drop by as much as 50% due to fan and airflow acoustics around the hard drive alone, exclusively from any issues caused by fan-induced vibration carried through the IHS's chassis.